Arab League chief says Lebanon should be ‘spared’

BEIRUT: Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Monday Lebanon should be “spared” from spiralling regional tensions, during a visit to Beirut a day after Arab diplomats condemned Lebanese movement Hezbollah.
The Arab League held an extraordinary general meeting on Sunday in Cairo at the request of Saudi Arabia, which called the ministerial-level session to discuss “violations” by its rival Iran. Despite the meeting’s strongly worded concluding statement, Abul Gheit said Arab nations sought to keep Lebanon insulated from harm.
“No one can accept, or want, any harm to happen to Lebanon,” Abul Gheit said after meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun in Baabda.“Lebanon has a special character, a particular and special structure. The League recognises this,” he told reporters.
Earlier Abul Gheit told Lebanon’s National News Agency that “Arab countries understand and take into account the situation in Lebanon and want to spare it... from any dispute.” Abul Gheit also met parliament speaker Nabih Berri and will attend a conference organised by the United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). In statements posted on Twitter, Aoun said Lebanon could not be held “responsible” for regional conflicts. “It did not attack anyone, and it therefore shouldn’t pay the price for these conflicts with its political stability or security,” he said.